Virgin at Jack’s
On our 2nd wedding anniversary, I decided to surprise my husband by taking him out. Is it my faulty memory or have I never really taken my husband out for the 4 years that we’ve been together?!? It sounds pretty bad but hey I make it up in other areas.
After much internet and magazine scanning, I decided it was time for us to try Jack’s in La Jolla. I even contacted Chef Roland of La Folie in San Francisco to ask for some suggestions. La Folie was our favorite special occassion restaurant. It was were I first tried foie gras, truffles and caviar. Chef Rolad recommended Mille Fleurs in Rancho Sta. Fe and George’s in La Jolla. However, I decided not to make reservations in both restaurants because of the mixed reviews. Mille Fleurs sounded snotty, overly expensive and not everyone was happy about the food. George’s didn’t have foie gras. Thus, Jack’s.
I made the reservation 2 weeks early (yes, I used to be a Girl Scout!). They were only open from 430-830 on Sundays. We needed to be at the La Jolla Playhouse for Carmen the Musical at 7pm and the show ends at 930. I made a 430 reservation specifically asking if dinner will be serve by then. The girl who took my reservation said yes. A week before our anniversary, I got a 20 usd gift certificate from Jacks through email. I replied saying thanks and added that I made reservation s already for 430. Then, I got a reply that dinner is not served until 530?! Infuriated, I wrote back about my conversation with the person who took my reservation. Then comes an email thread from the resto’s owner Bill and followed-up by Chef Tony?!? I was at the brink of cancelling my reservation because it was all too confusing for a simple reservation but with the owners taking attention I decided to set aside my annoyance and still try Jack’s.
They didn’t let me down. The Sonoma foie gras was exceptional. Melts in your mouth! My entree was the Spice Crusted Sea Bass in Soy while Carsten opted for Duck Breast. It was pretty good. My only regret is that I couldn’t eat it without ruining its presentation. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay longer and have dessert. I guess that means we’ll have to come back. Oh and they have a wonderful deal where VIP members get free entrees on Sundays when you order 2 entrees and 2 drinks. Great dinner for 25% the price of last year’s anniversary dinner. Reasonable pricing and delectable food, what more can I ask?
Notes from the Balikbayan
We are home again after spending 2 weeks in my “home-country” which is defined in the Ebuna’s Dictionary as the place where you reached your maximum height. It will be almost two years since I left. My husband contended that I will be shocked.
Was I?
Not really but I certainly saw things in a different perspective. The humidity, dirty air and dusty surroundings were familiar. I didn’t mind eating rice three times a day but I must admit that I felt uncomfortably full most of the time. I had mango shake whenever it’s on the menu. I felt stuffed most of the time but eating monggo and tuyo, escabeche, sinigang na lechon was too irresistible.
So what took me by surprise?
Di laging masaya
What surprised me as soon as I landed and walked through the airport was that people aren’t as friendly and happy as I thought they were. Was it always like that? Have I been telling myself too often the cliche that Filipinos are happy people? How do you arrive at such generalizations? Have we been always characterized as such and how do we compare exactly to other races?
Yupi-yuping UP
I always though that my alma mater had character. It was an impressive campus for me (atleast 12 years ago). I recall that some of the ceilings at AS were broken. I particularly remember one room where the ceiling fan was dangerously hanging on to the ceiling. The fan was working but you might want to rethink sitting under it! I was awed by the size of the campus and I always regarded its brokendown state as “quaintness.” As I walk through SC in search for a cheap mananahi, I found myself wondering why UP looks the same or even worst. The SC was littered with posters and it looked the same. The UP theater looked like it had a gangrene. I didn’t get to look around more but what I saw depressed me. Why does our state university look like this? After all the countless malls sprouting like mushrooms all over Manila, the sight of my rundown alma mater is quite depressing.
Paris meets Ruffa, Kris and Gretchen
Just what is so fascinating about showbiz? Why did I just endure Boy Abunda’s monotone reports about the uh-troubles of Yilmaz Bektas and Ruffa Gutierrez’s marriage and Gretchen’s 37th birthday…
I set-off looking for the Aussie jeans that my sister insisted I should get. Except, I couldn’t remember the name. I googled Aussie jeans but no such luck…I remotely remember that it starts with a B but what I did remember is seeing Gretchen Barreto in those jeans in some magazine. My sister said that Gretchen nowadays is always flaunting the brands that she’s wearing so I googled “Gretchen Barreto jeans.” This was how I stumbled upon a blog called coffewithamee where she ranks showbiz personalities overexposure. Kris was #1. I couldn’t help but smile when she wrote “kulang na lang pati pag-utot ni Kris isali sa news.” Ruffa was #2 because of her impending divorce/annulment and Gretchen was #3 because of her photos with John Estrada.
Having lived here in the US for 2 years without subscribing to cable (no ABS-CBN, Filipino Channel or GMA! thank god!!), most of what blogger Amee wrote about were news to me with the exception of Kris’ pregnancy. So, I went in search for the video clips of these “news.” YouTube makes things so much easier. Whew! Now,I sit here and wonder where did the hour go? Did I just watch all these crap? The funny thing is, you know you’re watching crap but you still watch it. This is the “Paris Hilton” of the Philippines. I remember spending a few Sundays when I was still living in the Philippines when I would sit through an afternoon switching between the Buzz and Startalk. What a waste of time! Why do we do this?
Oh and I heard that Trillanes made it to the Senate?!? Huh?
